Today's TED talk: Ken Robinson "How to escape education's death valley"Sir Ken Robinson outlines 3 principles crucial for the human mind to flourish — and how current education culture works against them. In a funny, stirring talk he tells us how to get out of the educational "death valley" we now face, and how to nurture our youngest generations with a climate of possibility.

Join together with other students every Friday at 1 p.m. in the S307 Conference Room to watch a selected TED Talk and discuss, brainstorm, and have enlightening discussion. See www.ted.com for more information about TED talks.

The Student Activities Office is hosting a weekly TED Talk Series this fall in the new Student Life Center!

Join together with other students every Friday at 1 p.m. in the S307 Conference Room to watch a selected TEDTalk and discuss, brainstorm, and have enlightening discussion. See www.ted.com for more information aboutTED talks.

Topics will be announced on the Student Bulletin and posted on the Virginia Western Event Calendar.

Location: Third Floor, Student Life Center Room 307

Time/Date: Fridays at 1 p.m. starting August 29th

This Week's Topic: Ken Robinson "How to escape education's death valley"Sir Ken Robinson outlines 3 principles crucial for the human mind to flourish — and how current education culture works against them. In a funny, stirring talk he tells us how to get out of the educational "death valley" we now face, and how to nurture our youngest generations with a climate of possibility.

The Panopto Lecture Capture has a limited amount of storage space, and it's running out. In order to maintain a cost-effective storage model, it was originally agreed upon that only THREE years of recordings would be maintained! Right now, there are a lot of recordings that are nearly four years old, many of which have not been viewed by a student in more than one year.

Video files more than three years old should be deleted and, if still relevant, re-recorded with the most up to date material. Yes, we know that in some cases the information is exactly the same. However, students forced to watch old videos often comment about the perceived value of those video recordings. We hear comments like "If the instructor doesn't care enough to update the recording (replace the videotape, etc.), why should I care about the material?". If you look substantially different, or the slides and information you are showing on the video don't match your current class information and textbook, you should update your recordings, even if it's been less than three years!

Remember: the use of Lecture Capture is an additional instructional tool, NOT a replacement for current, up to date, dynamic instruction!

Want to help support a great cause? Sign up today to volunteer to help with Boots2Books 5K Run to benefit the Veterans Assistance Fund, hosted by the Virginia Western Armed Forces Student Association. Saturday, August 30, 2014 beginning at 9 a.m. Race starts at Virginia Western campus. Runners will receive a free t-shirt! Volunteers will receive a free t-shirt!

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which a person's pancreas loses the ability to produce insulin — a hormone essential to turning food into energy. It strikes both children and adults suddenly and is unrelated to diet and lifestyle. It requires constant carbohydrate counting, blood-glucose testing, and lifelong dependence on injected insulin.

With T1D there are no days off, and there is no cure. That's why JDRF holds more than 200 Walks across the country every year to raise money for JDRF — the only global organization with a strategic research plan to end T1D.

The JDRF Walk has raised more than $1 billion through the hard work and generosity of supporters like you. Every dollar JDRF directs toward research comes from our donors. So, the more our walkers raise, the closer we get to reaching our goal of a world without T1D.

The workshop is for faculty and staff who engage with students. It will be offered in a series of three Fridays: Friday, September 26, October 3, and October 10 from 12pm – 3pm in the Natural Science Center. Apply through this link (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1tL6bVsnd8xeM97HTZbfRc8V5bHPxRsW4jRfNe872bxg/viewform?c=0&w=1&usp=mail_form_link ) by Friday, September 5 if interested in participating.

The VaBUG Conference Committee is now accepting proposals for the 2014 Annual Conference.
The VaBUG conference is a great opportunity for Blackboard users to discover, discuss, learn, and share best practices. In order to afford its members the best possible personal and professional development opportunities, they are asking instructors, administrators, staff members, and any other interested members to submit proposals for concurrent sessions for this year’s conference. What exciting ways have you been utilizing Blackboard in the past year?
The concurrent sessions will be scheduled for 50 minutes (this includes time for questions and answers). Sessions will be organized along the following tracks:

Blackboard administration

Instructional design

Faculty best practices

K-12 best practices

Please consider participating as a presenter, and pass this message along to someone you feel may be interested in participating.